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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the original case.